The present invention relates to a claw hammer head and, more specifically, an improved claw hammer head having a high brow and multi-radiused claw with tapered, pointed claw tips and a very sharp V slot.
In order to keep the terminology that is used in this patent clear, the following definitions are used throughout the specification and claims:
Head: The object attached to the end of the handle, used to strike the nail. PA1 Face: The surface of the "head" traditionally used to strike the nail. PA1 Body: The main portion of metal on which the rest of the hammer is formed. PA1 Neck: The part of the head between the face and the body. PA1 Socket: The longitudinal hole in the body material in which the end of the handle is inserted and fixed in the usual manner by one or more wedges. PA1 Side-hitter: A "face" on the side of the body used for hitting nails in tight places. PA1 Claw: The part of the head used to remove a nail from wood. PA1 Slot: The area in the claw in which the shank of the nail is gripped to remove the nail from the wood. PA1 Rocker: The longitudinal curvature of the surface of the claw that bears against the wood. PA1 Roll: The lateral curvature of the surface of the claw that bears against the wood. PA1 Brow: The top of the body including the socket adjoining the rocker. PA1 Pocket: The pocket is the area of the head between the interior surface of the claw and rear face of the body of the head. PA1 Cup: The cup is a small indentation on the rear surface of the body at a position roughly in line with a initial opening of the slot or throat adjacent the tips of the claw. PA1 Spiking: The act of starting a nail in the wood, using only the hammer head to hold the nail.
Claw hammer heads have been long known in the art. Generally, the heads have a low brow with a uniform radius curved claw on one side and a short neck with flat face on the other side. These conventional hammer heads, with a low brow (from top to top edge of face being on the order of 1/4 to 5/16") is designed to pull 11/2" nails. Additionally, with conventional hammer heads having a low brow, at close to limit of travel during nail pull rotation, the top edge of the face can and often does contact the wood, (dents and dings) which is especially undesirable if doing finishing work in expensive hard woods. The claw generally has square end, blunt, chisel-like tips and a relatively broad V slot for pulling nails. The neck of a conventional hammer head is only about 13/4". The face is flat and parallel with the centerline of the handle of the hammer.